Gospel? Really? In Harry Potter? Yes, read it for yourself. The stories are dripping with gospel themes. In reality, the themes of the gospel are everywhere in our world. God is everywhere. Redemption is everywhere. We simply need to slow down enough to find the themes. The Bible says, “the earth is full of His glory” and that means that God has even infiltrated literature. I read in attempt to find God in literature. These literary stories can then be used in conversations with those who maybe don’t understand the Bible but can understand biblical themes when shortened to a novel form. You should read too and see if you can find God’s glory there. Go pick up a book. I can recommend a few!
The Harry Potter stories are not neat little children’s story void of danger or hard truths but neither is life. The evil ones in our world may not carry wands or wear robes but they exist and the armies of darkness are waging war on the armies of light. The Harry Potter stories remind me that we’re in a war and it’s one worth laying down my life for.
I digress. The Harry Potter themes take place in a neat magical world filled with both fun spells and wicked spells used by good and bad witches and wizards. I’ve read the stories a couple times, listened to the audiobooks, and watched the movies. I love getting lost in this magical world. Hi, my name is Candace, and I am a Harry Potter geek.
You can imagine my excitement when I discovered that Universal Studios* created what I call ‘Harry Potter World.’ I believe the correct title is actually ‘The Wizarding World of Harry Potter’ but I like my title better. I visited the park several years ago with my sister and then again last May with my best friend, Crystal. Since the trip last May, my bestie and I have been scheming on making our way back to the park. When we heard Universal had added Diagon Alley and the Hogwarts Express to ‘Harry Potter World’ it only fueled our resolve.
When I realized I was already going to be in Florida after my cruise, I pitched the idea that she fly down the day I returned and we could re-experience ‘Harry Potter World’ with the new additions. She was all in. We booked all of our travel arrangements and hotels the day before I left on the cruise.
After I debarked from the cruise, my parents drove me to the airport to pick up the rental car and I drove to the Orlando airport to pick her up. It was a flurry of words (as usual) from the moment she sat in the car.
We spent the evening eating amazing seafood at a hole in the wall local place. Then we searched for new Harry Potter themed shirts in the city. Why did we search for new shirts? Well I’ll tell ya. There are 4 houses at Hogwarts (Harry Potter’s Wizardry School) including Gryffindor (red & yellow), Hufflepuff (yellow & black), Ravenclaw (blue & white), and Slytherin (silver and green.) Harry belongs to Gryffindor which is the house where those with highest courage and bravery belong. Everyone wants to be in that house. All the evil dark wizards came from Slytherin house. When she and I went to ‘Harry Potter World’ last May, we made a couple shirts from some random colors. Mine was black and yellow and hers was green and white. Do you see our dilemma? You can imagine our chagrin when a worker pointed out that we were from Hufflepuff & Slytherin. What a fail for some Potter Geeks.
So this time, we decided we would not be mistaken for belonging to lesser houses. When we could find no Harry Potter shirts, we decided to make some. We bought glow in the dark iron-on letters and puff paint. We used the letters to spell Gryffindor on the backs. Then we each used the paint to add a Harry Potter theme on the front. We had so much fun making the shirts and were eeking! from giddiness the whole night.
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| This picture is blurry but it shows the glow-in-the-dark letters. |
The next day we caught the free shuttle and then huffed our way to the back of the park to find the new ‘Harry Potter World’ addition. We saw King’s Cross Station, a location in the stories and knew we must be close. A worker politely asked if we were looking for Diagon Alley. We replied in the affirmative. She informed us it was just beyond the brick wall. We turned a corner and then another and oh-great-mother-of-pearl were we ever so shocked at what lay behind that wall. There was a whole world hidden behind that wall. It was incredible. I felt like I was actually walking around Harry Potter’s world. I can’t tell you how many little joys we found in that space, or how many wows we uttered, or how many times I felt wonder and awe and amazement.
After wandering around for a while with our jaws dropped open and our mouths uttering “wows” and “oh my goodness” we decided to take the Hogwarts Express over to Hogsmeade in the other park. Even the little train ride overly exceeded my expectations. So many details were thought of in that little ride. For those of you familiar with the stories, they even made it look like the riders disappeared into the brick wall at platform 9-3/4.
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| The plain brick entrance into Diagon Alley |
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| This picture does not do the wonder justice. Leaky Cauldron on the left, Weasley Wizarding Wheezes on the right, Gringott's Bank straight ahead. |
We walked around Hogsmeade and then ate a crazy good feast at the Three Broomsticks. I’m telling you they’ve even outdone themselves on the quality of food. I’ve never had amusement park food that tasted so good. We then got back on the train to return to the other park and even the return train ride had surprises.
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| Our feast consisted of half of a chicken, a huge ear of corn, amazing potatoes, fish and chips. |
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| The food never had a chance. |
We found a few more neat HP motifs and then explored the rest of Universal. We rode the Men in Black ride and that gave us the biggest laugh of the weekend. On the ride, they give you a laser gun and you try to shoot aliens that pop up throughout the ride. Of course, the two of us are quite competitive and so we went to shooting away. We each scored well over 100,000 points above what our fellow passengers scored. We decided to check out our pictures afterwards. The worker said he thought he had found us but then he asked Crystal how she was holding her gun. She said she didn’t remember exactly. He then demonstrated as he put up the picture for us to see. Oh.my.word. She looked determined to kill aliens. Her eyes were red and her teeth were biting down on her lips and she had that gun pointed as a death threat to those aliens. We laughed and laughed until I could not breathe.
We walked those theme parks until we were both exhausted. We had planned on staying until the park closed and then walking back to our hotel because we still think we’re 19 and invincible. When the rain came and we had to wait in the Hogwarts Express line for an hour and our feet were aching, we decided to get some sweets from the sweet shop, Honeydukes, and leave. We stopped outside of Universal, in the City Walk, to get some sushi to go and caught our shuttle back to the hotel to rest our weary feet and play a card game. We eventually went to bed and awoke early the next morning to begin our adventure back to Tennessee. I will write more on that later.
*I want to give a little plug for Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure. Each time I visit, I am amazed at their commitment to excellence. Having worked in the architecture field, I was jaded by people who wanted to skimp by for the cheapest designs and buildings. This skimping was mainly due to the fact that no one had money to go big in their designs but it got old to constantly draw rectangular buildings with brick veneer and a metal gable roof. The fancy projects included a canopy to boot. Universal tickets may cost an arm and a leg but they truly go big in their designs and I am left joy-filled and in awe. I am grateful that they consider the tiniest details to keep up the theme of each area of the parks. Even the bathrooms had tiniest details that made us feel like we were in another world. I love how they make the lines for the rides so interesting and entertaining. We stood inside Gringott’s bank while waiting in line for the new ride. There were animatronic goblins that looked so real I thought Universal had hired people to dress up like goblins. Each line has details and themes and stories to make you feel as if you’re not standing in line. Even the workers stay in character as visitors ask questions about the park. I heard someone ask why we couldn’t go to the upper level of the joke shop. Without missing a beat, the worker said that the Ministry of Magic thinks there are items up there that are not safe for the common witch or wizard. Genius. They also have great marketing ideas. Again, these extras cost an arm and a leg but the ideas behind them are genius. Another great idea they utilize is the use of free lockers for the duration of each ride. You can safely store your valuables in the locker and then retrieve them once the ride is complete. If you’re looking for a great amusement park, I vote Universal. If you’re looking for a great story to get lost in, I vote Harry Potter.
